#swedish jcs

[alyssumcamellia]

I've been thinking a lot about how I would've directed an actor playing Jesus if I had been in charge on a production, because it's so difficult. You've got a Jesus who, if you follow the premise that Judas puts forward in Heaven on their Minds, is a hedonistic, callous man who has lost his cause and indulges in the crowd. The Swedish Arena Tour (2014) uses this angle. Something that that production does, which you of course must do, is give him a realization at around Simon Zealotes that the crowd is too violent and that Judas was right.

Other productions make Jesus just a calm, smiling man through the whole play, who suddenly erupts with mean and "selfish" lyrics. This has always given me pause. There are two main issues I have with this interpretation. The first one is as mentioned, that his lyrics seem discordant with his general demeanor. My second issue it that the interpretation is boring and makes Jesus a static character, and it is bad theatre. I saw the current Norwegian production, and Jesus was unfortunately boring to watch because they went with this angle.

I, therefore, find it so weird that so many productions go with the second version. I think it is because they are lazy cowards who don't think about how they want to portray their characters in a way that makes sense. They know how Jesus is from the Bible and general culture, and don't think anymore about it. I think that is a real shame. That is the beauty about JCS, that you have to interpret the characters. You have to strike the balance in Jesus between hedonistic and pious, and explore Judas and his dilemma, his anger, and his frustration. If you wanted to show a musical where you didn't have to think, you could show Phantom of the Opera.

The difficulty of interpreting Jesus is striking the balance between these two versions of the character. (If you want to give it a single thought when putting on the show). I like the balance in JCS 2000. They have out thought into how Jesus should be, and I find the his indifference to Judas during Heaven on their Minds intriguing.

(I don't have any credentials or experience, with theatre, I just love JCS, and I am tired of not seeing it done justice)

[monster-tangle]

i am SO normal about swedish jcs everyone

[iivari-ii]

I’ve fallen into Jesus Christ superstar purgatory and made these 🤲🤲

I love the Swedish version but the fact that the guy playing Judas is now in a Queen cover band haunts me daily

[goldshirtleia]

Hello yes it is that time of year again, I am listening to the 1970 OG recording of JCS on vinyl and have decided to finally make a list my rankings for every role and aspect of this show. For the record I am a pagan whose only real knowledge of the Jesus story is from this show so forgive my unhinged takes.

Characters:

Jesus:

Ian Gillan (OG album/broadway)

Ted Neeley (1973)

Ola Sålo (Swedish 2014)

Jack Hopewell (North American Tour 2022)

Morgan James (all female cast 2022)

Judas:

Carl Anderson (1973)

Brandon Victor Dixon (2018)

Murray Head (OG album)

Shoshana Bean (all female cast 2022)

Peter Johannson (Swedish 2014)

Honourable mention to Colm Wilkinson (it is a CRIME that there isn't a full recording of the Irish cast)

Mary Magdalene:

Yvonne Elliman (OG album/broadway/1973)

That's it, no one else even comes close

(Maybe an honourable mention for Gunilla Backman)

Pontius Pilate:

Barry Dennen (OG album/1973)

Filippo Strocchi (Vienna 2018)

Orfeh (all female cast 2022)

Caiaphas:

Bob Bingham (OG broadway/1973)

Norm Lewis (NBC 2018) I will ALWAYS stan Norm

Victor Brox (OG album)

Simon Zealotes:

TIE - Larry Marshall (1971)

TIE - Eric Grönwall (NBC 2018)

John Gustafson (OG album)

Tony Vincent (2000)

Herod:

Alice Cooper (NBC 2018)

Mike D'Abo (OG album)

Chris Moyles (Arena Tour 2012)

Overall - staging/set design/costumes:

1973 Movie

NBC 2018

North American Tour 2022

Arena Tour 2012

Honourable mention to the OG broadway production -- I haven't seen enough footage to accurately rank it but I LOVE Jesus's cape in Superstar.

Best overall rendition of Superstar (incl. staging, costumes, etc)

1973 Movie

NBC 2018

Arena Tour 2012

Swedish 2014

Best facial expressions:

Carl Anderson during Simon Zealotes

Carl Anderson right before he engages in respectability politics to slut shame Mary

Tim Minchin when the priests take his joint lmao

Best Superstar costume:

Carl Anderson's white maxi fringe jumpsuit (come ON)

Peter Johannson's shirtless #lewk (I have a whole thing about how Judas should not look like a demon but the sparkly red pants and the Legolas hair are too fantastic)

Brandon Victor Dixon in the full silver fit

Best WTF moments:

That bit in the 1973 film where they all form The Last Supper for a quick second and no one comments on it

When the 1973 crowd says "won't you die for me?" in Hosanna and it just FREEZES on Jesus's face

The Swedish cast pushing Jesus into Jerusalem in a shopping cart

The fighter pilots swooping at Judas after Blood Money in 1973. What WAS that. How did they get that.

That is all lol. Every time we watch even a clip of a new production my mother and I spend 2-3 hours discussing how it fits into our rankings, so this could change.

[confettifluff]

HI TUMBLR JCS ENJOYERS CHECK OUT MY PARTY DECORATIONS and food

[raskti]

@judasiskariotapologist

[judasiscariotsfemalehysteria]

Judas is my blorbo

[h0mocorrectus]

is Jesus Christ Superstar your favorite musical?

OMG IT WORKS! HI!

Yep, my mom is a big fan and I listened to it (the original cast recording) as soon as I learned some English (my first language is Russian), so I think at 8?

My faves are the 1973 movie (cuz classic) but I don't at all like Ted Neeley, Питерская Рок-опера (st Petersburg Rock Opera) but it has to be with Bayarunas as Jesus and Kazmin as Judas, and the Swedish version from 2012 in Stockholm. I am completely in love with Peter Johansson's Judas and this musical is actually the reason I got into Scandinavian languages! I'm studying Norwegian now, not Swedish, but there are a lot of similarities so I understand a pretty big part of the words. Also I have a life-sized cardboard version of Swedish Judas in my room (I'm moving in with my girlfriend @furciferangeli rn so ya better believe Judas is coming with me. I showed her the thing and she has a giant crush on him as well, so he is now ✨OUR✨ cardboard husband).

I am so mentally ill about Chriscariot (Jesus/Judas) that I wrote a very short angsty-ass fic in Russian about them at some point, but I've only showed it to the aforementioned girlfriend so it's just chilling in my notes app for now✌️

My blog was even named after JCS: it was originally scripturethumpinghack from the line "He's just another scripture-thumping hack from Galilee" from "Then we are decided", a duet between Caiaphas and Annas (it was only included in the st Petersburg version and the movie, it's not even in the original album), but I decided it would be easier for my ADHD brain to remember my usernames if I had them the same across the board :) I also had a TikTok account called jaded-mandarin I think, but I don't use it anymore for reasons of Russia lol

Also here's a gif of Swedish Judas singing Superstar because he is gorgeous and y'all deserve a treat (I think the gif is from @mgmpluto they had like a bunch of gifsets, but I've had this specific one in my gallery forever to stare at during lonely winter evenings ;)

Thanks for the ask uwu I think it's actually my first one! And happy new year!

[juudaz]

Me during this Easter :DDD I've listened through to six different versions/productions of JCS, some twice :D

me listening to the same songs on repeat (but in different versions!):

[jedas]

broke: Jesus never felt attraction to anyone because lust is a sin and he was sinless

woke: Jesus and Judas were gay for each other

bespoke: Jesus was in a polycule with all of the disciples (because love isn’t fucking sinful!) but Judas isn’t as poly as he thought he was and desperately wants Jesus to go exclusive with him. Jesus just wasn’t built monogamous. Misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and betrayals ensue and then they both die about it

[dikdikpronouncedxylophone]

Jesus Christ Superstar 1973: hippies have the entire desert to put on a play, man is not great at running, hippies may have killed one of the actors irl JCS 2000: gay man obviously thirsting over friend then has to reluctantly act heterosexual in the afterlife, governor who looks like a dictator belts melodramatically JCS 2012 Arena Tour: somehow nobody passes out going up the stairs, leftist infighting, bad hair decisions, tsundere bf, a very pissed son of God appears on a talk show

Swedish Christ Superstar: man does not comprehend that he could have a poly relationship, ex bf comes out in revenge dress while he's dying

[iivari-ii]

Haven’t actively listened to JCS for a while but got the urge to make some new silly memes so🤲🤲

[h0mocorrectus]

girl are you the carpenter king because you're bigger than John was when John did his baptism thing 😳

girl are you spattered with innocent blood because id sure like to be dragged through your slime and mud

[orchidbutch]

do any of yall like or watch jesus christ superstar? since we're approaching april i keep getting the songs stuck in my head. i need to re-watch a few of the versions...

i'm thinking this weekend i may go for the 2014 swedish version (which is available in 2 parts for free on youtube! pt 1, pt 2)

[confettifluff]

judas, must you betray me…with a kiss?

[raskti]

Getsemane - Ola Salo 2008